Friday, March 04, 2011

As Gbago-Ouattara's three-month long standoff for presidency continue, 50 civilians including 26 in the capital Abidjan were reported to have been killed last week from the violence brought about by fierce clashes of the two rivals, according to the UN mission team on Thursday.

The death toll now rose to 365 after the 28 November polls and over 200,000 had left their homes to seek refuge to neighboring Guinea and Liberia, said VOA News.

The Saint Ambroise Church in Ivory Coast capital serve as a temporary refuge to people who want to save their lives from the renewed clashes between the supporters of non-yielding President Laurent Gbagbo and his opponent Alassane Ouattara.

The church serve as sanctuary of people who packed whatever they could and leaving many things behind, stayed for a day or two there and fled, or those who stayed longer because there is nowhere else to go.

Many of the displaced people were injured due to continued fighting and some suffered from gunshot wounds.

The BBC said that at least five women were killed last week in an anti-Gbagbo protest in Abidjan when gunmen opened fire at them.

It was reported that the incumbent president uses militiamen to jeopardize millions of people and has cut the electrical and water supplies in the northern part of the West African nation.

Many Ivorians are not aware of what is going on in other parts of the country because the media stations had been attacked and newspapers have discontinued operations claiming that many of their reporters are facing threats.

People are going hungry. There is scarcity of cooking gas. Workers wait for several hours to be paid only 80 percent of their wages.